Naruto: Time Kills no Love
by Yoshimoto Trigen
Summary: What would happen, if Sakura secretly loved Naruto back, but she couldn't express it until AFTER the timeskip? Warning Lemon in later chapters. NaruSaku is the main pairing. Chapter up at Nov. 1 200
1. Chapter 1: Remembering

**Author's Note: Why… hello there! This is a story about Naruto being in love with Sakura (yay!), which will obviously happen, in the real series. (And if it doesn't… well, lets just say I won't be able to be held responsible for my actions.)**

_He's coming back…_

This was all Haruno Sakura could think. After two and a half years, Uzumaki Naruto was coming back. This made her heart leap with joy. She was so excited to see him. She was thinking of so many things about him, about when he promised to bring back Sasuke, when he promised to come back to protect her.

To protect **her**…

This made Sakura blush very deeply, and she crossed off another day on her calender.

_Only a few more days…_

Only a few more days… 

This is what was going through Uzumaki Naruto's mind, mirroring that of Haruno Sakura's thought. But, there was one last thing to the thought that he added out of pure liking.

_…Until I can see my Sakura-chan again…_

He knows, that when he goes home to Kohona, all of his friends will be there. Iruka, Shikamaru, Kiba, Rock Lee to name a few, but there will be one girl, the only girl, the he will be beaming with happiness to see. It will be his Sakura-chan. As Ero-sennin sleeps, Naruto writes in his journal.

_Dear Journal,_

_It is almost time for me to go back to Kohona. I am so relieved. It has been two and a half years, and I have come to miss my friends, Icharuka's Ramen shop, and the Hokage Statue's. But, there is one girl, no, one friend, that I have missed since the day I have left. That is my angel. She wears a red dress all the time, which I see as her angel's cloth, and she has the most silkiest, softest hair in Kohona. The mere thought of her hair is the one way to start to think about my angel. She has the most beautiful face in all of the Fire Country, and one look of her beauty can make the toughest shinobi crack like stone. She has the eyes of jewels, and the voice of a godess, and she is the best fighter I have seen in a kunoichi, and she can top most male ninja with her brilliance and determination. _

This is how I view my angel that has come to Earth.

_P.S. Ero-Senin, if you are reading this: Your time on Earth will expire the second I find out your reading of this._

He puts the journal in his backpack, and he falls down on his pillow, and falls asleep, knowing that in his dreams, his Sakura-chan will always be there, waiting for him to return.

**How was that? Revie****ws are most welcome. I am not sure if this is going to be M Rated, so I am putting it as it anyways. I worked hard on the Diary Entry, and I believe it is writing that rivals Michael Chrichton's, am I right? **

…**Right? Well, anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Sakura, Ino and a Flashback!

Disclaimer:

Japanese Version: Ore butsu jika Naruto.

English Translation: I do not own Naruto.

**I'd like to thank all of you for your excellent reviews. Although, there are some I have to point at. Gets Giant Pointing Kunai **

**Twig4: Learn 2 spell. Also, if you are going to be here, at least write a single story. You have only favorite stories, not your own. Please try and be less of an ass.**

**Player D: If it is so gay, then why don't you write something better?**

**Now, this is to point out something to a nice commenter. You are not in trouble, just answering a question.**

**Michiru's Mirror: I am not looking for criticism, I am now posting this for people to enjoy like a story, and people are now free to comment as the wish, as long as they at least don't scream like monkeys Cough Twig4 cough. Thank you for that kind review Now, enough of my senseless spam. ON WITH THE STORY! **

Sakura was walking down the street to have breakfast with her girl friends.

**Author's Note: That is not meant as any sign of Yuri. Sorry. **

Sakura got to the door of the eatery, and she walked in. She carefully walked over to where her friends were; they were already eating their meals.

She saw one of her closest friends named Yamaka Ino, who was eating some katsudon and talking with another of her friends named Tenten. Tenten was eating some dango's, while sitting to the right of another friend named Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata was sitting quietly in the corner of the table, being as shy as she can be, eating some rice by herself.

"Sumimasen en gozen jikangai (Sorry I am late), but I was held up by my mom again." Ino, cleverly seeing through Sakura's tiny lie, pulled next to her, and Tenten followed, pulling up behind Ino who was next to Sakura.

"Sakura, stop lying, your mom didn't hold you up, you were thinking about Naruto." Ino teased, and Tenten nodded. They smiled when they saw Sakura blush.

"I- I was not!" Sakura stammered.

"Yes you were, Sakura! We can tell! You are totally crushing on him!" Tenten teased, poking her in the shoulder.

"Not as much as you two were when Trigen saved you during a mission two and a half years ago." This was checkmate for her; she hit their weak spots. This brought on a flash back, brought to you by DVD and THS.

**Flashback**

_Tenten and Ino were fighting against two rogue Jounin from the Yukigakure(Village Hidden Among Snow) and Trigen was in the midde of the fight, litteraly. Ino and Tenten had their own opponents, while Trigen was in the midle of them, facing the opponents. _

"Trigen, for god's sake, do something!" Ino yelled while looking at them.

"Ino, he doesn't even look awake!" Tenten yelled back at her, seeing Trigen's eyes closed and barely moving. They couldn't see, however, that Trigen was molting his chakra into the ground, preforming a Earth-Style Jutsu.

_Tenten looked back at her opponents, and she saw swords flying at her. Stunned, she couldn't move. So couldn't Ino. But, luckily, Trigen hadn't fallen into a Genjutsu the two rogue Jounin used to stun the group. Trigen quickly preformed a flurry of proper hand seals, and slammed his two fingers into the ground, yelling:_

_"Doton: Doryūheki(Earth Style: Earth Style Wall)!" Two protective walls formed in front of Ino and Tenten, and Trigen ran at the two other Jounin, fighting them two on one in Taijutsu. Trigen's taijutsu was too advanced for the enemies, and he took them out with a spinning kick that knocke them out cold. Two two female ninja's walked out from behind the walls, and they saw Trigen tieing the two incapacitated enemies up. As soon as he was done, he walked over to them, and asked very concernedly,_

_"Are you two alright? Did they hurt you in any way while I was morphing my chakra? Because if they did…" He stared daggers at the two enemies, which was seemed so cold, that the two enemies actually woke up, saw him, and fainted. Both of the female ninja's shook their heads, and Trigen made something of an attempt at a smile._

_"Good, because I don't like seeing friends on my team get hurt. It's just not right. Especially if they are two talented young woman." This really got the two blushing, and Trigen picked up the fainted enemies and carried them off, the two soon followed._

_End Flashback._

Tenten muttered under her voice, trying to hide her blushing, "Well, it's too bad I am with Neji now. I guess that means Ino has Trigen all to herself." Inside Ino's mind, Inner Ino cheered "CHA" very loudly.

Sakura got a plate of rice, dango's and soup, wondering to herself in a deep thought. 

_Is Naruto thinking about me still?_

**End of Chapter. How was it? Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3: Homecoming

Naruto walked in the forest, followed by his teacher Jaraiya; one of the most perverted men in all of Konoha, a fierce fighter, somewhat of a playboy, a perverted author, and one of the Legendary Sanin, and a master of Toad Summinings. He is also known far and wide as: Jaraiya of the Legendary Three, and known in Konoha as Jaraiya-sama, Jaraiya-sensei, but for those who know him REALLY well: Ero-sennin (Perverted Hermit.). The latter name is particularly apt. As they walked through the forest, Naruto remarked that it's been two and a half years, and Ero-sennin agreed. They finally reached the gate, and walked through. The guards looked up and saw the two shinobi, and they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Is that who I think it is?" One said.

"It is!" The other replied with a smile. All the way across Konoha, Sakura was walking to her daily assignment of collecting the daily entrances and exits of Konoha from the gate that our Naruto just came in from.

As the pink haired kunoichi walked through the streets, she heard a young, boyish voice yell to her.

"Sakura-niisan!" Sakura turned around, and saw Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi running towards her.

"Konohamaru?" Sakura looked perplexed, and Konohamaru spoke.

"Where are you going, Sakura-oneesan?" Konohamaru asked.

"I am going to the gate to get the enterings and leavings of Konoha." Sakura replied.

"Can we come?" Konohamaru ventured.

"Alright." Sakura nodded, and the group walked to the gates.

Naruto dropped his backpack, and he ran up the pole, he heard ero-sennin speak behind him.

"Wow, you seem eccentric today." Why shouldn't he? He was home, where he belonged. He was once again in the same village as his Sakura-chan. There was barely an atom's size of reason why he shouldn't be there. He continued up the pole, and he got to the top. He said out loud, throwing his arms into the air,

"Everyone! Uzumaki Naruto has returned!" Naruto let the Konoha airflow through him, happy memories flowing into him along with the wind, almost like a ghost through a wall. He opened his eyes, and saw the Hokage Statue. _Wow, this place hasn't changed a bit._ He thought to himself. He saw the five heads of the Hokages- Wait, _five_ heads? Two and whatever years ago, there was only _four_. He took a closer look at the statue, and saw Baachan's giant head on the statue. He burst into laughter, getting out,

"They- they put Baachan's head on the Statue? Wahhahaaha!" As Naruto laughed to himself, Sakura and the group were getting to the gate.

When the group reached the gate, Sakura stepped up to the gate station. She saw Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu, the guards of the enter/exit gate. "Kotetsu-san, I am here for the list of exits and entries of Konoha." Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san suddenly grinned, and Izumo-san spoke.

"Sakura-chan, go to the middle of the town, you will find something interesting there." Izumo-san said, grinning.

_Something interesting? Wait- Can it be?_ Sakura thought, and she turned and ran for the middle of the town, the group of young genin following her. Behind them, they couldn't see a shadowy figure in a black trenchcoat walk into the gate.

He walked through the woods, and now he was finally here. He walked to the gate, and he saw Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Hey- What's your name, sir?" The mysterious figure looked at him, and Kotetsu's face lite up with realization.

"Where is Naruto-oniisan?" The figure asked. Kotetsu pointed to the way to the middle of the town, where the white-haired winced with his green eyes, and saw the boy he seeked. He smiled, and nodded to the two Jounin, and he walked into the village. Izumo looked to Kotetsu, and said,

"Whoa, it seems everybody is coming back, heh, Kotetsu?" Kotetsu nodded, and the two Jounin got back to work.

_Please, be him_ Sakura prayed over and over in her mind, wanting to see Naruto again so very badly. Soon, she saw- yes, it was Naruto's perverted sensei, Jariaya no Ero-Sennin! She saw him by a long concrete pole, and she said out loud,

"Can it be?" And Konohamaru replied, smiling, "It is!" It was Naruto! He has returned! She could barely see him, but she could make out his blonde locks, and a distinct orange jacket, and he was, so far, the only person she knew that wore orange that much.

"Naruto?" She called up. "Naruto, is that you?" She called again.

_Hm, I wonder where Sakura-chan is…_Naruto quietly spoke in his head, then, he could almost hear a woman calling his name. He heard the voice call 'Naruto, is that you?', and he looked down, and he smiled a very large smile; it was his Sakura-chan!

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" He called down to her. She called back to him,

"When did you get back, Naruto?" she asked.

He replied, "Just now!" And he leaped down to her, and got face to face with her. He saw Sakura-chan smiling.

Sakura smiled, and she noticed how good looking Naruto became. She blushed slightly, and saw that Naruto was taller then her.

"Hey, you're taller then me now!" She exclaimed.

Naruto, surprised, measured from his head, down to hers with his hand. "Well, whadya know, I am!" Sakura smiled. _You've grown so much, Naruto._ She blushed slightly, and put her finger onto her chin. "Do- do you think I've become more womanly?" Of course, our Naruto is quite the… how do I say this correctly? The George W. Bush of noticing flirting moments, and he says, "Nah, you're the same as you always have been. Enraged, Sakura slapped Naruto on the face, sending in skidding slightly. She then walked over, and brought him to his feet, fists having an iron-grip on his jacket. Suddenly, a voice came from above, and on the roof of a building, crouched, having white hair and green eyes. The man had a black trench coat on, and his chakra reeked of a pure statement: Don't fuck with this guy. Both blonde shinobi and pink haired kunoichi were surprised, they realized who this man was!

This man was….

Trigen Yoshimoto! Self made Jinchũuriki of the Yoshimoto clan.

**I told you I would be back, and here is Chapter 4! Hope you like it **


	4. Chapter 4: Meeting at Last!

"Yo, Naruto-oniisan, Sakura-san." Trigen said, smiling down to the two. The two were looking up at him, and he jumped down, his black trenchcoat flapping as he fell. He landed in front of them and he was right about Naruto's height. This make Sakura-san very annoyed and discouraged, having a exastured comical face on. _Oh, come on! Even Trigen is taller then me…Wait- What is he holding?_ Sakura thought,_ and when _Naruto and Sakura looked closer at Trigen's hand, they saw he was holding- Icha Icha Paradise!?!

They both flung back with comical recoil, and they got up and yelled, "You're actually reading that perverted piece of trash?!?" Trigen laughed slightly, blushing alittle as well, scratching his nose with a embarresed smile on. Ero-sennin didn't know wether to be delighted knowing he had a new reader, or to be furious that they are calling his 'master piece' a piece of trash.

Trigen laughed, and managed to say, "It's not so bad. Granted, it's perverted, but it's actually a nice story." Before Naruto and Sakura gave him a big punch to the head. They yelled at the boy, telling him to stop being such a pervert.

Now, before we go any further, you want to know- who is Yoshimoto Trigen? Trigen Yoshimoto is a Genin from Konoha, who is a Jinchuriki. His beast is the Gobi, which is a Five Tailed demon wolf of Chakra. This one, however, was not made by the ninja nations, it was created by Trigen, and a freak accident of a group of powerful satanic ninja cultists. He is a very powerful Jinchuriki, and he is not in danger of Akatsuki, because he is not listed as a 'legal' Jinchuriki. Akatsuki could use him, or the legal Jinchuriki of the five tailed beast they hold; either way, it's one or another. Trigen has silver hair, a strongly built body, and a large intelligance. He has knowledge of many jutsu's, and is a Taijutsu specialist. He lacks in Genjutsu defence, but he knows some Genjutsu himself. He has much training in hand-to-hand combat, and the use of staff weapons. His demon chakra is black, and his hair turns into a sleek onyx black when the chakra activate's. It gives him red eyes, just like Naruto's, and he becomes nearly as fast as Itachi. He has a chunin sister, named Kirianne, but we will just call her Kiri.

After they yelled at Trigen, Naruto remembered something, and spoke up, "Hey, where is Kiri, Trigen?"

Trigen stopped holding his head in the case of another on-coming thumping, and replied, "Oh, Kiri-oneesan is on a mission to Amegakure(Village Hidden in the Rain), she might be back here in Konoha later this afternoon if she makes great time. In the meantime, Naruto-oniisan and Sakura-san, you and Jiraiya-sama should go to Tsunade's office. They will be waiting for your report on your training." Naruto and Sakura were surprised at his reminder, and they realized they were going to be late. They ran off, and Jiraiya ran off with them to Tsunade's office.

Trigen Yoshimoto watched them run off, and he decided to go off to a diner to eat. He finally found one, and walked into the open diner. He saw some people in the room; men and woman, none he recognized- Wait a blasted second… is that Yamanaka Ino, and Tenten? And that man next to Tenten- is that Hyuuga Neji? No way. My, how have they grown. Trigen took off his glasses, and he put a hand to his eyes and started to rub his eyes, trying to make sure he wasn't going to make a fool of himself. He saw Neji's pale eyes, the kind of eyes that only the Hyuuga's have. And he saw the same old headband on his forehead. He recognized Tenten by her brown hair, tied into two buns on the side of her head; and he recognized Ino by her purple clothes and touroise eyes. He saw Ino's body, and he could only think one thing; a saying that all men would say, if they saw Ino's figure and clothing style:

_Holy shit, that's hot._

Trigen composed himself, and he walked over to the table, catching the attention of the three.

"Who're you?" Neji asked. Trigen smiled, and replied.

"Why, Neji. Has it been so long that you don't remember me?" Neji squinted at the man in black clothing, and he stared into the man's eyes, seeing through the man's glasses, and going into the green pools of fire of his eye. He looked at the man's white hair, and was startled in realization.

"Is it really you, Yoshimoto Trigen?" Neji asked. Trigen laughed heartily, and replied.

"Hai, I have returned, Neji." Trigen saw Ino's and Tenten's eyes open, and they were wide-eyed, mouth's a-gaped, to Trigen's muscular body, and stunning good looking face. They immediately crowded around Trigen, almost drooling over him, had it not been for Neji to cough slightly; and Tenten and Ino immediately backed off.

_My, my. I must have missed something here._ Trigen though, smiling with content. Trigen pulled up a chair in front of them, and sat down. "So, would any of you mind to tell me how things have been going in Konoha, and what has happened to everyone? I have been away for so long, I don't want to fall behind." The jinchuriki asked.

Ino replied first, as fast as lightning to it. "Hai, Trigen-san! I'll tell you." Trigen sat back, smiled, and took in what he heard from Ino.

Naruto, Sakura and Sakura finally made it to the Hokage's office, and walked in, seeing Tsunade and Shizune at the Hokage desk. Tsunade spoke. "Long time no see, you two. I take it the training had some results, right?"

Jaraiya was foax-surprised, and spoke back in a skeptical tone. "Did you think he'd come back with no results?"

Naruto spoke next, pride in his voice. "I did great!"

Tsunade leaned forward, putting her hands on top of one another, looking straight at Naruto and Jaraiya. "Well then, let's see those results."

Naruto was confused, and said, "See them?" he asked.

Tsunade spoke next, still in her informal tone. "I'd like you to fight against a certain someone. I haven't given him any missions the past few days so that he could rest up. Your opponent is…"

**By the way; I am skipping the Shikamaru-Temari encounter, I don't want to go into that, it is just too embarresing, and follows the plot like a perverted hermit with a good looking young lady.  
**

"…over there!" The Fifth Hokage pointed to the window, and Naruto, a confused expression on his face, walked over to the window, and pulled it up. Outside, he looked to his right, and when he looked to his left…

A smile came on his face, and a voice spoke. "You've gotten big, Naruto." It was Hatake Kakashi, his former sensei! He waved, and said, "Hey!"

Naruto's smile got bigger, and he happily said, "Kakashi-sensei! Sensei, you haven't changed at all." Naruto jumped out of the window, standing on the rutters. He crouched down for leverage, and remembered something.

"Ah, that's right! Look here, look here." He reached into his belt back, and looked for something. "I have a present for you, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura and Tsunade walked to the window, and looked at the two.

"This is such a nostalgic sight, isn't it?" Tsunade idly asked her student. "Hai." Sakura replied to her Master.

"N-Nani?!" Kakashi studdered out, when Naruto finally gave him the present. "Y-You… Th- Th- This is…" The present was- a new Itcha Itcha book? Ah, but it was no ordinary book, it was Jaraiya-sama's uncensored new book, Itcha Itcha: Make-out Tactics! It was sea-blue, and Kakashi was stunned.

Naruto explained, "You see, this is the first new book from the Make-out Paradise series in three years! It's really boring, but you like, don't you, Sensei?" In the Hokage's office, Jaraiya humphed, and silently thought to himself.

_The fool! Like a brat like him would be able understand how interesting this is! And that one hasn't even been put through circulation yet._

_  
_On the roof, Kakashi slowly opened the book, and in his eyes, the inside's were glowing as if God had made that book. To Kakashi, he did.

Tsunade shook her head, and called to Kakashi to pull him out of La-La Land. "Ok, stop goofing around, Kakashi." And she walked back to her desk.

Kakashi hated to part with his Gift from God, but he finally closed it, and stood up. Naruto looked up at him, and was surprised. "It can't be! My opponent is supposed to be…" Kakashi made a little noise, and spoke again.

"That's not quite right either." Kakashi walked over to the window, and saw Sakura in the room. "My, it's been a while since I've seen you, Sakura!"

Sakura replied, "Hai, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi finally got down to business. "The two I am to fight is…" He jumped onto the ledge of the window, and Jaraiya smiled. "…Naruto and Sakura. The two of you together."

**Aaaaaaaandddd, end chapter right there! Whew, that was a lot. I will continue this later. Also, great news! July 8****th**** is my birthday! I am turning 13. Have a great day, ya'll!**


	5. Chapter 5: Tired, Late, but Good

**Ok, please don't kill me for lateness. Damn school.**

**Disclaimer: (Insert funny, and yet witty Disclaimer here.)**

**I have an announcement! I am working on a new project. It is a Naruto book! I am placing it in the Naruto Timeline, where I use my Jack Sparrow wit and place me in the timeline. Also, I have a forum up; check it out in my profile here. If you cannot find it, say so and I will post link in next chapter.**

**Now, on to the story.**

It has been an hour since Kakashi told the two teens where to go for the training, and he was late. As usual.

Naruto sat on the ground, arms crossed, muttering to himself, "Why is Kakashi-sensei late?"

Sakura answered him, "He's always been late, even before you left." Naruto blinked in surprise, and then he rubbed his chin, wondering something. Sakura saw him fumbling, and she put her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Naruto looked up at her. "Well, Sakura-chan, Trigen left in an awful big hurry, where do you think he could of gone to?"

Sakura thought about this, and shrugged. "I'm not su-" Suddenly, out of complete nowhere, their former sensei poofed out of thin air, a small fog of smoke surrounding him. Naruto and Sakura were completely surprised by him.

He waved slightly, smiling under his mask. "Hey! My bad, my bad!" And then, he cleverly started up one his his perorganized excuses for tardiness. "Actually, on my way here I saw an old woman who needed help so-"

Naruto and Sakura immediately yelled at the jounin. "Hey, that's a lie!" Kakashi just sat on the fence, smiling slightly. He then jumped down from the fence, and waved for them to follow. The two teens followed in step behind him, and they reached an old, familiar place. It was the old training place for Squad 7, the place where Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke tried to take the bells from Kakashi.

"This place… it takes me way back.." Naruto said, smiling at the nostalgia moment. Sakura made somewhat of a response, and memories of the bell test came to mind for Naruto, when Kakashi was explaining the test. He remembered it like it was yesterday….

Flashback

_Kakashi was holding the bells, and he started explaining the exercise to them,_ "The point of this exercise is for you to get these bells from me before noon. If you don't get one from me, then you do not get lunch!" _Everyone gasped, none of them had eaten, and they were extremely hungry. _"You will be tied over there," He pointed to three logs in the ground, "and forced to watch me eat a bentou."

Flashback ends.

Naruto was looking at the log, and Kakashi looked up from his book that he stealthy brought out. "Now that you mention it, this was your first training area, wasn't it?"

Sakura weakly nodded. "We were Team 7."

Naruto looked away from the log post, looking down, "Three-man cell, huh?"

Kakashi squinted, and followed up, "Back then, we had Sasuke with us…" This sentence caused unimaginably painful memories to come back to Naruto and Sakura.

Flashback.

Sasuke began to walk away, turning his back on Sakura, and she yelled out to him. "Please don't go!" She ran after him for a few steps, and yelled again, "I'll scream if you try to leave!" Sasuke disappeared from in front of her, and he was directly behind her. "Sakura…" A small silence insued, and then he spoke again, "Thank you." 

_Tears were still fresh on her face, and then Sasuke hit her in the back, knocking her out. As she fell, she could only whimper_ "Sasuke… kun…" _And she fell to the ground._

Flashback ended.

Naruto kept looking down at the ground, the name of his lost friend bringing a memory of his desertion back..

Flashback.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, out of breath from running for days. He and his friend's have sacrificed their lives to rescue him, but… he did not care for it. Naruto breathed in, and yelled with all of his might,

"Sasuke!" _His voice echoed across the waterfalls. The boy finally turned to him, slowly. Naruto saw that his right eye was black and yellow, and the curse mark had taken over the right side of his face._

_Sasuke finally spoke in a uncaring voice, _"Hey, clumsy moron."

Flashback equals ended.

Kakashi looked up from his book, hearing that everything had gone quiet, and he saw Sakura hugging her knees, sitting on the ground with her head in her knees; and he saw Naruto with his fists on the ground. Kakashi's eyes were open with comical evaluation. A bell slightly rung in his head, and he thought to himself idly, _Sasuke's name is taboo around these two… _Kakashi knew he had to snap them out of it somehow, so he decided to start the Bell Test. He took out the bells in his hand, the bells rung from movement. The noise made Naruto and Sakura look up from their moping states, seeing Kakashi with the bells.

Well, that worked out quite nicely.

"Well, I'm going to see how much you improved." He gave a seriously glance at them, his eyebrow going up in question, "You haven't given up on Sasuke, right?"

This immediately got the two up, Kakashi saw. Sakura spoke, as she got up, "Of course not."

Naruto got up right after her, a look of seriousness on his face. "That's why I've been training."

Kakashi smiled, finally getting the test organized again. He nodded, and he put the bells in his pocket for a moment. He began informing them of the test, "The rules are the same as we first did this. You can use whatever tricks you like, as long as you get these bells from me. Come at me…"

Naruto, a smirk on his face, immediately cut him off "…like we're going to kill you,"

Sakura, with an equal smirk, followed up the statement, "or else we won't be able to get them, right?"

Kakashi smirked, and nodded, remembering the time he first explained it, telling them they can even use Shuriken. "Exactly. You won't be able to get them unless you have the intent of killing me." He finished up with telling the time limit, "You have until tomorrow. So, shall we begin?"

Naruto reached behind his head to his headband, and Sakura started putting on her gloves that she got from her pack. Kakashi closed his new book with an echoing slight sound. Naruto chuckled slightly, "You aren't going to fight reading the book this time, Kakashi-sensei?" His new, deep voice made a sharp intent on the honorary.

Sakura finished tightening her gloves as Naruto was tightening his headband, also speaking about his book, "Or did you finish reading it already?"

"Nope, I'm going to set that hobby aside for the moment. Besides… it feels like I am going to have to be serious, this time." He reached up for his head band, and he pulled it off of his left eye, revealing his Sharingan. They all nodded; the two teen's eyes were on the bells that were placed on the jounin's belt.

Elsewhere, Trigen was listening intently to what Ino was saying, taking in every detail. Neji was bored out of his mind, trying to ask Tenten if he can leave. Tenten kept refusing, keeping him down by holding his arm. Trigen wondered if Tenten was strong enough to break her hold on his arm, or if he didn't want to. Ino was finally coming to a conclusion in her long story of what has been going on, and something caught his ear more then everything else,

"Oh, and me and Tenten suspect there is something happening between Naruto and Sakura." Trigen raised an eyebrow and grinned slightly, he was finally happy to hear this info. His eyes drifted to the clock (Yes, they have clocks.) and it was an hour since he returned. He suddenly remembered that he had important business to do.

"Oya, look at the time! I have some important business with the Fifth Hokage, so I'll see you 'round, Ino! See ya Neji, bye Tenten!" He got up from the table fast, and he ran out of the diner, jumping up for the nearest building. He repeatively thought 'shit' over and over in his head; this news was extremely important. He kept jumping over each roof, trying to get to the Hokage's Office as fast as humanly possible.

Back at the diner, Ino barely had time to call out to Trigen before he leapt off. Neji had a curious look on his face as he watched him.

Neji finally spoke up after a moment, "Important business with the Fifth? What would that be?.." He shrugged this thought off, and he stood up. "Tenten, I have to go now, we'll catch up later, ok?" Tenten nodded, gave Neji a hug quickly and walked out.

Trigen finally reached the Fifth's Office, and he met with Namiashi Raido, who was the Third Hokage's assistant. Trigen walked up to him, and gasped out, nearly out of breath,

"Ra-Raido-san, wh-where is Ts-Tsunade-sama?" Trigen was barely able to say.

Raido looked at him with a questioned look, and finally spoke, "She is with Shizune, watching over the bell test of Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."

Trigen tried to say 'thanks', but he was still out of breath. After a minute, he finally caught his breath, and ran out of the building. He ran and ran, he ran through crowds of people, through the busy street, until he finally came to the area where Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were preforming the bell test. By the sounds of explosions, he could tell that the test has already started…


	6. Chapter 6: Bell Test, Part One

**No disclaimer, you guys know it like a book. **

**Also, relax; I posted the last one as well as I could, but it took too much time. This one should be considerably longer. I am doing this as best I can, since school is getting long and tough.**

Trigen slowly walked around the three people, and snuck into the forest, using his sensitive hearing to try and find Tsunade. He finally find her, she was standing in a tree with Shizune, overlooking Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi. He leaped all the way up to a branch, climbing up.

"Hokage-sama." Tsunade looked to this new voice, and she saw Trigen.

She looked generally surprised, and then her stern face came back, "Trigen, have you set up the network?"

Trigen nodded, "Yes, every spy network is on the lookout in areas the nations Jiraiya-san warned, and they have been equipped with messenger hawks so they can warn us of the Akatsuki's movements." He looked to the bell test, "So, how strong does Naruto and Sakura look?"

Tsunade laughed slightly, as if the answer was obvious, "I've been training Sakura since you and Naruto left two and a half years ago, so she's grown very strong. I trained her how to use my super strength-" This was confirmed when right after she said this, the ground shook with the force of an earth seizure, "-and, I have also helped her with getting her medical jutsu prowess, so she will be almost like a younger me."

Tsunade's small smile faded, and her voice grew more serious, "Naruto, however, has been gone as long as you. He was training with Jiraiya for every day of his leave. Akatsuki has been continuing it's covert movements, and we have no idea where, when, and how they will attack the Jinchuriki. What we do know is that the Akatsuki wear black robes with red clouds on them. You told your spies this, correct?"

Trigen nodded, "Black cloaks, red clouds."

Tsunade nodded in approval, then continued, "These are S-ranked criminals and missing-nin; there are some with grave and dangerous reputations, such as Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. I was concerned for Naruto's safety when he went off with Jiraiya, but it seems they either were lucky enough to evade Akatsuki, or the Uchiha and Hoshigaki were too scared to face an old pervert and a little boy." Tsunade laughed, and her assistant Shizune giggled. Trigen put on a amused face, and walked to the other side of the tree, watching the fight.

Naruto made the first move: he threw five shuriken at Kakashi while jumping into the air to get aim on him, but Kakashi quickly dropped onto fours on a very low ground position, and threw three shuriken at Naruto while the blond boy was beginning to land. Naruto quickly jumped into the air again, and Kakashi quickly retaliated by throwing three _more_ shuriken in the intention of catching Naruto off guard.

However, Naruto was one step ahead, and he made a hand sign, and he activated his signiture jutsu, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Technique) and a exact clone of himself appear beside him in midair. The clone grabbed Naruto by the arm, and actually _pulled_ his maker out of the way of the shuriken!

Interested, Kakashi muttered, "Interesting…" Intruiged by Naruto's new wit. Sakura watched her teammate preform, and smiled, thinking _Nicely done! He couldn't dodge it in mid air, so he made a Kage Bunshin to move himself out of the way!_ Kakashi quickly reacted, and leaped forward, and ran at the two Naruto's. As soon as the real Naruto landed, his clone did another hand sign, and said, "Henge!"(Transform) and the clone transformed into a large shuriken. The blades sang as it came to life, and Naruto grabbed it. But, Kakashi was fast, _very _fast, and caught Naruto's hand and the back of the blonde's head, preventing Naruto from moving the shuriken.

"Well, that's enough of that." Kakashi said calmly. Kakashi noticed his hand, and thought absent-mindedly to himself, _You really __**are **__taller…_His thought lead to him trailing back to the first bell test of Squad 7, when Sasuke was still around. Naruto was much, much shorter then. Back in that time, Kakashi's hands had to reach down to hold Naruto's arm behind his neck, but now, Naruto was nearly as tall as he was. A long time can do that. Kakashi's eyes moved slightly, feeling something pointed to his back. Something sharp. _And on top of that…_The white haired jonin thought, as his eyes trailed to his back, and he saw another clone of Naruto, standing behind him with a kunai at his back! _You've gotten much better at your Kage Bunshin timing. _He looked into the distance, and he saw Jiraiya sitting on a tree, watching near Tsunade and Shizune.

Kakashi smiled, his eyes closed in approval, "You've grown well, Naruto. But… it seems you haven't lost any of your haste. I haven't told you to start, yet." These words lead to another flashback, which seemed to be in stock at the moment, to another memory of when he held a kunai to Naruto's head when he was a small genin. He remembered muttering, _"Don't look so confused. I haven't told you to start, yet."_ Somehow, he dragged himself back to reality, and he finally decided in his mind that they should start.

"Okay, let's begin." Kakashi's eyes still closed, but he could still sense the air filled with apprehension and eagerness. Sakura and Naruto made several movements to prepare for a fight, but he remained closed-eyed. "Ready… Start!" And then, he dispersed his clone.

Sakura was shocked to see that it was only a Kage Bunshin, like Naruto's. He played a trick on them! Naruto was equally surprised, and quickly flushed with anger. "Kitsou! He got us!" He cursed, he and his clone looking around for their white haired sensei.

Sakura threw up her arms, yelling at him. "Gah! Naruto, you idiot! Now he could be anywhere!" She began looking around, looking for their lost sensei. She felt her old master watching her, so she remembered what to do: She looked Right, Above, Left, Forward, and Behind. But not Sensei. _If he's in none of those places… _Her gloved fist gripped tightly, and chakra poured into her hand. She raised her hand, and yelled, "Below!" Her fist rammed, no, _**smashed **_into the ground, and the ground in front of her fist ripped apart like plastic. Fragments and the shockwave sent Naruto falling back, a surprised look on his face. As the smoke cleared, both Naruto and Sakura saw the huge fissured trench appear, her punch was a success…

And, there they found there sensei! With an equally surprised face as Naruto's, he studdered in his mind, _Wh-What the hell…_ From afar, Sakura could feel Tsunade's smile of approval, and shocked eyes on her.

Kakashi was almost scared out of his wit for a second, and he studdered again in his mind, _Godaime… it looks like you didn't just teach Sakura medical ninjutsu…_

From in the tree, Trigen had a surprised face that matched Kakashi's and Naruto's, his green eyes buldged from shock. _Holy shit…what the _hell _did you exactly TEACH Sakura, Hokage-sama?_

From the other branch, his favorite author, Jiraiya, sat there. He quietly spoke to himself, "Beauty and brute strength…" With a fallen-crest face on, he spoke in a comedicly solemn voice, "Looks like you've raised another Tsunade…"

Sakura smiled in her success, and she spoke to her sensei, "Kakashi-sensei. Found you."

From behind, Naruto got to his feet, a smile on his face, _G-Guess I should stop playing around in front of her… She might end up killing me!_

Kakashi jumped to one of the rocks that came out of the ground, and quietly addressed Sakura's strength to himself, _She builds up the maximum chakra in her hand, and she releases it in an instant. That's a feat you cannot do without percise chakra control. _Kakashi thought on, looking Sakura in her seafoam green eyes, _Medical ninjutsu and superhuman strength… No, not just that…She was a genjutsu type to start with, so… She might end up surpassing Godaime. _He immediately moved forward, getting into attack position, he decided the games were over. This was serious. **Dead **serious. _Right! I guess it's my turn now! _And he immediately reached into his pack, and threw four kunai knives at Sakura. Sakura immediately was surprised, and she moved out of the way. However, Naruto was barely able to dodge it as well. One nearly grazed his shoulder.

Kakashi used this time to leap for the forest, and once he landed he ran in, using his chakra-aided speed to hurry in. He leaped up to a branch as he ran, and he pushed himself farther up, then landed into a bush on the ground. He immediately activated his Sharingan's enternal intuition, and he began to scan the area. Naruto has already found him, and he was sticking out of his position, his boyish teen face watching the jonin. _There you are…_ Kakashi thought in disapproval. _A shinobi must hide without a single trace._ He turned his head, and he saw Sakura, ten meters away on his right, behind a tree, looking at him in the same fashion as Naruto. _Completely different back then…_

For at least what it seemed the fiftieth time that day, his mind was brutally kicked, then dragged into his memories, as if it was being dragged kicking and screaming… _A shinobi must hide without a single trace. _He thought back in the day; Sasuke was hiding among the branches of the tree, Sakura was hidden under a bush. _Well, it looks like everyone's well-hid- _Suddenly, he turned to his right, and he saw the annoying blonde boy again, Naruto. _"Right! Let's get this fight started!" _The boy yelled at the top of his voice, overlooking him. Kakashi sighed, and decided to point out to him, _"Hey, aren't you a little bit _too _obvious?"_

Then, without warning (He wasn't expecting one, anyway) three kunai sizzled through the air, their sharp blades heading at him. He leaped out of the way; he landed on the tree behind him, and then leaped for another. The Kunai landed on the latter tree's trunk. He pulled a kunai out of his pocket, and he leaped at an incoming Naruto, preparing to meet him in a kunai slash. They met in mid air, and their kunai's sang the song of clashing blades, and as they passed, their blades met. As they missiled themselves past each other, Kakashi turned around and threw three kunai's at Naruto. Naruto barely had time to react, and he grabbed a tree branch and spun to get himself out of the way. The three kunai landed on the branch, where it would have mutilated his boyish features. Naruto landed near Sakura as she approached, and they both got ready.

Kakashi mocked sighing, and said; "Guess I should teach something to you two." He moved his footing, getting ready to attack, "Shinobi tactic #1: Taijutsu!" Kakashi ran at them again, no kunai in his hands. He threw a kick at Naruto, but the boy ducked. He threw a punch, and Naruto tilted to the side to dodge it. Naruto then leaped into the air onto a branch, and Sakura yelled, finding the time to attack, "Gotcha!" She yelled, throwing her fist, which was, obviously was filled with chakra. He dodged, jumping back slightly, still on the ground. She made slow, hard punches to get him, each probably super-human strength; _If I can just get one punch on him…_Sakura thought, and Kakashi nearly answered her thought with his own, _Need to make sure they don't hit!_ Several more punches to his face came, and he rolled out of the way, as her fist connected with a tree, splintering it.

He quickly jumped to his feet from having himself on one hand on the ground, muttering to himself, "Whew, that could have been bad."

Above his sensei, Naruto stood on a branch and made his familiar hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And a cloud of smoke came over him. Soon, three Naruto's flew done on their sensei like a hawk, Kakashi made a mild effort to look up at him. "Let's go!" Chorused the Naruto's.

Kakashi decided to meet this new challenge, and got into taijutsu defense, "Right! Come!" One Naruto came down on him, aimed to kick him to the ground, but Kakashi hit him in the leg; and the Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke. Soon, another Naruto flew in to Kakashi's right sprung at him, but Kakashi turned and quickly hit the Naruto with a straight punch to the face, and that Naruto blew up as well. Another Naruto tried to sneak up at him, but he kicked it, and it exploded like it's brothers; but right after that Naruto exploded, another one came soaring above Kakashi, and threw a punch to his head. However, the Naruto missed, and Kakashi backhanded him, and he exploded. He punched another as it came.

As he punched one, another Naruto came and yelled, "Got him!" And it reached for the bells. Kakashi yelled in anger and surprise, and grabbed the Naruto by the wrist, and threw him a long distance to a tree, and this one dissipated like all the others. Three Naruto clones were on his flank, so he leaped into the trees, trying to get a better position. The three Naruto's snarled, "You're not getting away!" And jumped in after him.

As they jumped after their enemy, Kakashi appeared again, right behind all three of them. Naruto muttered, remembering this move, "Kage Buyou?"(Shadow Leaf Dance) Soon, bandages flew out of Kakashi's sleeves, and circled around the midair Naruto's. The bandages flew everywhere around the three blond boys, and soon it smacked all three together. Kakashi held the bandages together, and the four began to drop. Kakashi grabbed his arms around the human-made missile, and flung them to aim their heads at the ground. They began to spin slowly, like a top, soaring like a missile. All one of the Naruto's could say was, "This is fuzzy brow's…"

Sakura suddenly realized what was happening, and she was agitated, "Kakashi-sensei's copy ninjutsu!" _Naruto might be killed!_ Inner Sakura yelled on the inside, gnawing on her nails in utter fear. As the Naruto's and Kakashi began to spin faster, they closed in on the ground, then

_**BOOM!**_They slammed into the ground, causing a whiplash of wind to follow. Sakura was agitated, Inner Sakura was almost crying for Naruto, and Kakashi stood up, and she realized that those were only clones! "So, where's the real one?" The white-haired jonin muttered.

Then, Naruto popped like the little fox he is out of the bushes, and yelled "Here I am!" And he brought his index fingers and middle fingers from each hand together, making a pointing figure. "Taijutsu Ougi!"("Ougi" Means special technique, for your information) Naruto grinned in anticipation, and yelled, "Sennen Goroshi!"(You guessed it: A Thousand Years of Death!) Kakashi nearly yelled as Naruto closed in on his ass, and he leaped up into the air in a desperate attempt for an anal-free pain. Naruto completely missed, and looked up, trying to find him, "Kitsou, I missed!"

Kakashi landed three meters away, crouching to soften the landing, then stood up, _That, too could've been bad…_He thought. _But not quite for the same reason…_Sakura came from above, aiming her foot like a missile at Kakashi, yelling. Kakashi grunted and spun out of the way, making the tree splinter under her foot.

He was starting to lose his breath, and tried to get it back. _I really did have it easy back then._ Kakashi thought.

His mind was dragged like a person tied to a car back into his memories, remembering how hasty Naruto was when he was mocking him. _"Don't make fun of me!!"_ Naruto threw a rolled punch, but Kakashi blocked it while his attention was on his first Itcha Itcha book. _"Damn!" _Naruto yelled as he was blocked_ "Got you this time!" _And did a sweeping kick in the air, trying to get Kakashi in the chest. Kakashi ducked, still reading his book. Naruto missed, and jumped to a safe area, and ran again, throwing another punch with his child fist. _"Take this!"_ Naruto yelled, and his punch landed… on air, Kakashi wasn't there anymore! "_H- Huh?" _Naruto stuttered, his thoughts jumbled on where is sensei went. In fact, actually, the sensei was _right behind him_.

Kakashi muttered to Naruto's ear behind him, his first two fingers together on both hands, "A ninja doesn't leave his back open, baka." Naruto turned only to see Kakashi's eye glinting with extreme comedic exaggeration, and his two fingers went all the way to Naruto's pants, he yelled, _"Konoha Secret Technique: Taijutsu Ougi!"_ And then, his fingers made its entrance into Naruto's… well, anal area. Ass. Butt. Whichever you need for you to see this in your mind. _"SENNEN GOROSHI!"_ Kakashi yelled, sending Naruto flying, holding his ass and crying.

Kakashi's mind turned to later in the bell test, and he found himself hiding in a tree, looking out with his black eye. _Hm, over there._ He thought, finding the long-haired fan girl Sakura.

_Sasuke-kun, where are you?_ She thought, looking for her raven-haired crush. _Or has he already…No, no way could he take you out._ She stopped, and found Kakashi below an upcropping. She gasped, thinking, _I must keep my distance!_ And then, her new white haired sensei spoke behind her, even though she saw him below her. _Sakura, behind you._ Sakura saw her sensei, and for a moment, time paused. Then, she screamed.

Kakashi's mind was kicked and tumbled back into reality, and the author of this story is _seriously_ running out of ideas to show that Kakashi is getting out of his mushroom cloud crack-provided flashbacks. _They've been apart for so long… but they're working together pretty well._ His mind fluttered to his bag, where his new book was kept. His heart pinned for it, but his mind stayed focused. _Guess I won't be able to keep reading that…_And he saw Naruto do the Kage Bunshin hand sign once again, but this time it was different.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"(Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu) and hundreds of Naruto's appeared around Kakashi! _He's still able to make this many…_Kakashi thought. "Let's go!" One of the Naruto's yelled, and they all ran for Kakashi, closing in like a storm. The following battle is too detailed for our author to explain, since it will simply take too much time and his effort to say it all, so he will write as such: The Naruto's began taking punches at Kakashi, and he fought back. He fought with amazing speed and agility, taking down ten, then twenty, then thirty Naruto clones. The puffs of smoke came in at a rapid pace, and then Sakura joined the fight; she threw her fist into the ground, causing a fissure to come at Kakashi. He jumped out of the way, while a good cluster of clones got smashed. _Bah._ Kakashi muttered in his mind, _Looks like I'll have no reading time for myself at all…_

Kakashi looked up to the tree's, and the spectator's were still watching. Jiraiya was sitting on a tree branch, while Shizune and Tsunade were standing on another tree branch. Jiraiya smiled in approval, muttering, "Amazing, isn't it?"

Shizune nodded, and said, "Naruto-kun and Sakura are doing wonderful!"

Tsunade allowed for a slight smile, but had a anticipated voice in mind, "No, it's only the beginning."

Back on the ground, Naruto and Sakura were on the rough terran Sakura modeled, and Kakashi stood against them, weary eyed. "So, what now?" Kakashi then threw five kunai at the two, and ran into the forest. Sakura cursed, and Naruto fell to the ground to dodge.

"We lost him again!" Sakura yelled, and she picked up the blonde boy and helped him up to run after Kakashi. They spent a long time searching for their white haired sensei, but they couldn't find him, and it was growing dark. They began to start walking, taking easy steps, searching for their sensei. Naruto muttered, walking, "I'm sure I heard the bells somewhere around here…"

Sakura slightly looked to her blonde partner, and Inner Sakura squealed inside of Sakura's head, _Naruto's voice is so deep!_ Sakura summoned her strength to fight off a blush, and responded, "He probably did that on purpose. Keep your eyes open."

Naruto agreed, "Yeah, you can't be too careful with him." They continued walking for a couple more seconds, and then Naruto saw something moving in the distance, and it was… Sasuke! He had various Kunai sticking out of him, and his clothes were ripped and torn. "Sasuke" Naruto gasped in surprise, "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped.

Sasuke moved toward them, getting off his support on the tree he was on and limping. "Naruto, Sakura… please help me…" (The author coughs at this; Like Sasuke would EVER ask for help. ) Sasuke continued limping toward them, "I got away… from Orochimaru's… Please help me… Naruto, Sakura! Please!"

Sakura ducked her head, getting a hold of herself, _It's only a genjutsu… the same one Kakashi used me on the first bell test._ "Sorry, I'd like to talk to you more, but…" Sakura put her hands together, and muttered, "Kai!" (Release) and the genjutsu dispersed. "I'm not interested in illusions!" She proclaimed.

Naruto crouched, and put his hand sign together, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He said, and a clone appeared on his right. He began to harness his chakra into his hand, his chakra swirled and began to form a ball. The chakra was visible as it grew together, and Sakura spotted Kakashi!

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei's behind that tree!" Kakashi thought, _Damn._

Naruto's clone disappeared, and the swirling ball was complete! "Alright, I got it!" He ran at the tree Kakashi was behind, and he rammed the ball through, yelling, "Rasengan!" And the tree splintered like a toothpick under his power. Kakashi leaped away from him and the tree.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi's eyebrow raised, and huh'd. "Anything you want to say to me, like last time?"

Kakashi was crest fallen, his eyes monotone, sighing, he willingly complied, "Shinobi Tactic #2: Genjutsu." He remembered when he used his genjutsu to easily stun her, and he made the torn Sasuke clone to freak her out. _You fainted so easily back then…_

"You're not creative enough, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura taunted, "You think I'd fall for the same thing twice?"

Naruto grinned, pulling up his fist, "Yeah, no way!"

Kakashi willingly complied, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Naruto looked to the ground, and saw the bells! He ran over, pointing that them and exclaiming where they were. However, Sakura saw through the feint, and she yelled for Naruto to stop, but it was too late. A rope caught Naruto's foot and pulled him up and away from the bells. "Oh, I guess Naruto falls for…" However, the Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke, it was a clone! Then, the real Naruto appeared behind Kakashi, yelling, "Not likely!" And punched him in the face. However, Kakashi was merely a clone as well!"

Sakura remembered the technique, "Kawamarimi no Jutsu!"(Body Switching Technique!) She ran over to Naruto, and yelled, calling him an idiot. Kakashi was in the trees, smiling. _I guess some things don't change after all._

**Second part is coming soon, senor's y senorita's.**


	7. Chapter 7: Bell Test, Conclusion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any characters featured in here, EXCEPT for ones of my own design.**

**Really, if I did own Naruto, that would be so effing badass. (Oh, and if you are wondering about the '--', I put them there as breaks in point of views. I am pimpin' my style of writing.)**

Kakashi looked up, and Sakura slammed her first down upon him. He spun around, and away from the blow. She landed, and caused an earthquake in the ground.

Naruto ran out, and flung three kunai at Kakashi, and preformed a handseal. "Kage Shuriken no jutsu!" The shuriken multiplied, and went after the sensei. Kakashi had to twist once more, and throw five kunai to get out of the way. One shuriken hit his vest, but the armor absorbed the blow. Kakashi pried the weapon out, and jumped back.

--

All three shinobi were covered in muck and ground soil, since Sakura kept battering at him, and Naruto was chasing him like a madman. This was getting out of hand, so it was time for the next shinobi knowledge tactic.

He stood up straight, and pronounced the words:

"Shinobi Tactical Knowledge Number 3…" Naruto braced himself, while Sakura raised her fist in taijutsu defense.

"…Ninjutsu!" He swerved in a small retreat to make room between them, and he began to form chakra hand seals to form a ninjutsu. His speed had greatly improved since two years ago; it was almost unreal.

Both Naruto and Sakura grimaced at the movements, not able to keep up. _Too fast!_

Kakashi breathed in, and the jutsu was pronounced; "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" He spat out, and a gigantic fireball was born. The fireball continued in a rampage towards Naruto and Sakura, who barely got out of the way in time from the enferno.

They were sent skidding away, as the fire burned a gigantic path into the ground.

When they looked again…. Kakashi was gone. Naruto looked around in confusion, and suddenly, a gloved hand grasped his leg! A voice came from the ground, for the all-too-humiliating jutsu; "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" And Naruto was pulled under. At the same time, Kakashi sprung out of the ground, looking at his difficult quarry.

But, Naruto was gone, in his place, was a poof of smoke. A Kage Bunshin!

His senses alerted him to his attackers, and he turned. Naruto and Sakura were charging him, and gaining ground against him! Kakashi could not allow them to get close, especially the juggernaught Sakura has become. He leaped backwards in a controlled fashion, and landed on the water. He formed more hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

The water sprung to life, and went to work for its summoner. The two shinobi stopped, and stared at the incoming water. Unable to dodge it, they were struck backwards from the incoming jet of water. The typhoon swept them through the woods, and Naruto caught on to a tree. Simutantiously, he activated a hand seal, and two Kage Bunshin popped out. The bunshin caught onto the real Naruto's leg, like a chain, and they caught Sakura, and prevented her from getting down-river.

"Th- Thanks, Naruto." She gasped from slight shell-shock.

"No pro-problem, Sakura-chan." The water had begun to run out, and recede to the river. Naruto canceled the bunshin, and helped Sakura to her feet. "We have to fall back, Sakura-chan. This way!"

The two shinobi leaped away, while Kakashi was standing where he was, no intention of following them.

--

The adult was laboring in breath, losing a load of chakra from those three simultaneous jutsus. He strobbed his hand down, and felt the bells. Both of them.

--

Naruto and Sakura were falling back, realizing Kakashi was too strong. They needed to re-plan, and now. "For him to use fire, earth, and water-element techniques in combination like that…" He spoke to Sakura. "… is that even possible?"

"He isn't called the Copy Ninja for nothing." Sakura reminded him.

She continued. "I finally understand how amazing he is."

--

The spectators watched on. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Trigen. The back-and-fourth was like a ballet, less then a battle exercise. _One parry for another, a touché for an en guard._ Jiraiya mussed to himself. The climax had subsided, and no victors were chosen. So, as it would go, the battle would continue. As life would go; a endless epic in the chapter of the lives of heroes.

--

Naruto and Sakura finally found a place to rest, and stopped at the base of a tree. They tried to catch their breath, while Naruto kept an eye out. Sakura gasped out of her breathing, "I always knew the Sharingan was never something to mess with. Now I know why. Not only that, but there is sensei's incredible speed capabilities. We'll never catch him at this rate. At any rate at all, we don't stand a chance to getting the bells, unless we can occupy both his hands, but he is too slick for that."

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Yeah, seriously! Kakashi-sensei is so strong, it's almost unfair!" An image came to mind; Shikamaru. "He's smarter then Shikamaru." Another image, Kiba. "He has a better sense of smell then Kiba." Another image, Sasuke. "He has a better Sharingan then Sasuke had." Another image, it was one of his good old friends, Lee! "His taijutsu is better then fuzzy brows. And to top it all off, he is way more experienced then us."

Sakura intruded, "But, even Kakashi-sensei must have a weakness. If we really think about it…" She prompted for a thought.

Naruto leaned back on the tree, looking to the stars, as he always had on his journey. "A weakness, huh?" He began thinking to himself, trying to think under pressure, as he always had. Then, his number One Hyperactive Ninja train of thought kicked in. Hard. "Wait. I got it! I know his weakness!"

Sakura, personally, was shocked by this. Naruto… figuring out Kakashi-sensei's weakness?

--

Far away, Kakashi was slumped against a tree, looking over behind the trunk to keep an eye out. He was getting near his limit, since he wasted too much chakra in the ninjutsu, since he poured too much in. He idly thought to himself as he tried to catch his breath, _I can't believe they forced me to use the Sharingan this much._

He looked up to the sky, at the stars. _But… let's see if I can hold out 'til dawn._ He reached into his back pouch, and searched his arsenal of weapons. _Kunai… shuriken… I still have some._ His hand subconsciously reached in, and grabbed his new Icha Icha novel. He stopped immediately, remembering what was going on. _Whoop! No, no, not yet._ The urge for the book was killing him on the inside. This was the one book that he treasured most in life, and wanted to read Jiraiya's teaching of plot and romance, as well as erotica. It was unbearable. He chided himself, _Unlike before, they're too skilled for me to read a book while fighting them._ But then, he remembered where he left off. _It looks like the main character in Make-out Tactics has some sort of incredible secret!_

He looked up to the stars. _I can't wait to read what happens next!_ The man relaxed against the trunk, and rested for the next assault.

--

Sakura looked at Naruto in pure shock. "D- Did you really figure out Kakashi-sensei's weakness?"

Naruto was covering his mouth, nearly bursting with laughter. And he had a right to. "Sakura-chan, if you think back on our time together with Kakashi-sensei, you'll see it!"

Sakura shifted over, enthusiastic. "Quit stalling! What's his weakness, Naruto?"

Naruto came closer, and whispered into her ear. This tale went back to the beginning of Team Kakashi, of how Kakashi would never put it down, how he never let anyone read it or touch it. He valued it more then anything in the world, but there was a new one, and it was just as important. As a cloud shielded their discussion, silence kept in the land.

When the cloud descended from its perch, Sakura beamed up. Naruto was completely right! "I see! Who would have thought he would have a weakness like that?!"

"See?" Naruto grinned, victorious. "If you really think back, you'll see it!"

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Not only are we going to keep both of his hands busy, but if everything goes smoothly, we can prevent him from using the Sharingan!

Naruto continued her sentence, "And once we have an opening…"

Sakura nodded, excited to put this plan into action. "Naruto, you really are the number one most unpredictable ninja!"

--

Kakashi, unaware of their awareness of his Achilles heel, continued to sit and rest. _I guess I got a little overexcited about how much they've improved. Let's see what they're up to now…_ He began to gather chakra into his Sharingan, to use it to find the two teens.

--

Naruto stood up, prepared. "Now that it's decided, let's get ready for battle! Let's get started!"

Sakura agreed full-heartidly. "Indeed, let's go!"

--

Jiraiya observed the battle once more from the tree, seeing the lack of combat allowed clarity of thought. Not one to expect the battle being over, he continued to watch. He knew Naruto was a good fighter, and was always ready. Tsunade was also in clarity, figuring on Sakura probably leading Naruto around, since she was the brains of the duo.

Infact, they were both right in the same perspective. Naruto was the sheer battle-power and strength of chakra, Earth, while Sakura was the brain that directed the savage battle-machine, Heaven. Both combined, and the reality of it is really, they really one of the same. One forming human being, built for battle and companionship. Heaven may know of Mary and Joe, who gave birth to Jesus Christ, but Earth knows of Naruto and Sakura, who are one in the same, in a great preamble for the world to see upon, and reflect to themselves.

--

Kakashi's ears perked, and he looked behind him. He heard movement. _Here they come._ He stood up, to face the attack. The two teens were jumping in headfirst, completely unlike them. "You underestimate me!" He chided them. "I can't believe you're attacking me head-on like this!"

--

Sakura shouted, "Do it now, Naruto!"

Naruto lunged forward, shouting, "Here I come, Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi was taken aback. What was their plan?

He was answered. "At the end of Make-out Tactics…"

Kakashi was flabbergasted beyond the word of flabbergasted. He was gasteflabbered, which, by the way, is now a legal word in my mind. "WHAT?!" Kakashi's eyes bulged.

"Actually… the main character, he…" Naruto started to spread the spoils of Jiraiya's epic.

Kakashi couldn't believe his ears! They were stabbing him in his Achilles Heel! He couldn't believe this! The one word that frightened him most! "Spoilers! No!" He covered his ears, to hide himself from the words he found taint. However, Naruto continued on. And… Kakashi could read the words on Naruto's lips! _Oh, CRAP! I can read his lips exactly to the word because of my Sharingan!_ He foolishly closed his eyes, allowing against his procured mission. The bells rung.

They rung in enemy hands. Kakashi opened his eyes, waiting for an attack, but saw none. Infact, he saw his pair of students, smiles gleaming on their faces. They showed the bells to the defeated sensei, "A ninja must read what's underneath."

Sakura giggled, and put her thumb up. "Right, Sensei?"

Kakashi looked down, in both embarrassment and relief. At least the test was over. He was getting exhausted from the constant fighting, and also, he just wanted to go to bed with his favorite book, which, by the way, considering it is from Jiraiya, is quite ironic. He put his hand over his Sharingan eye, on his headband. "You got me." He admitted. Naruto and Sakura opened up with childish laughter, and Kakashi joined in. They were all relieved out of this.

--

_Finally, the test is over._ Jiraiya thought in relief. Tsunade jumped down from the tree, with Shizune. He looked to go down with them, but then he had another idea. He turned to the boy that watched from the shadows. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

The white haired boy looked to him, and seemed to studder slightly. "I'm here to watch Naruto-san and Sakura-san's test with Kakashi-sensei. I can only presume that, since you are here, you are the legendary Jiraiya-sama? The creator of Icha Icha Paradise?"

Jiraiya seemed to study the boy a little, and nodded. "Yes, I am that Jiraiya. I can see you know your facts well. I can only presume you are a friend of Naruto's?"

The boy nodded, smiling. "Yes, Jiraiya-sama. I have known of Naruto-san for some time."

Jiraiya thought to himself, _This would make Tsunade absolutely kill me if she found out about what I'm about to do, but I see this kid is a fan of me, and I would like to displease a fan._ "Tell you what, kid…" He reached into his robe, and pulled out something.

The boy's eyes gleamed at it, in a haze of shock. "I- Is that-?"

Jiraiya nodded, grinning. "Right you are, my boy! It's a copy of my first book from the Icha Icha series, Icha Icha Paradise!

The boy was still in shock, even when Jiraiya handed off the sacred book to him. "But… but Jiraiya-sama, this book is for eighteen and older only! I am only thirteen…"

Jiraiya nodded, and went close to his new fan's ear. "This'll be our little secret, okay? Go have some fun with that book, enjoy yourself."

The teen-boy nodded, keeping the book, kind of fanboy-ishly near to his chest. "I will, Jiraiya-sama!" The boy then turned to proceed to the nearest exist from the vicinity.

Jiraiya, keen on something in the back of his mind, spoke once more. "Wait a minute, what's your name, by the way?"

The boy turned, grinning with pride. "Trigen, sir. Yoshimoto Trigen."

Jiraiya nodded, rubbing his chin. "I see. Well, go along now. Enjoy the book!"

Trigen nodded, and excitedly hurried off.

--

Back with Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura, they were resting from the test at a large stream. Kakashi chuckled, and joked, "I still can't believe I went down like _that_." He looked solemnly at his prize, that he gained the right to after losing to two teens. The teens grinned, and flaunted their kills. "I should have read this to the end earlier…"

Naruto laughed at Kakashi's solemn respite on the matter. "But man, it's amazing how much you like reading that boring book."

Kakashi looked up, intrigued.

"Ero-senin lent me a copy, but it was so lame that I didn't read past ten pages!"

Kakashi leaned forward, perplexed. _Oh no. Don't tell me…_

" I actually have no idea how it ends!" A bell of pure embarrassment dinged in Kakashi's head. Completely flabbergasted. He pointed at Naruto in pure shock, and after a moment of suspension, leaned over in complete fool.

Sakura continued on the note, "Even though Naruto didn't know the ending, we knew you would react to just 'Make-out Tactics'." Kakashi still hung his head, hearing the words. "It was a great strategy, wasn't it, sensei?"

Kakashi could only groan, in continued tomfoonary.

--

Tsunade's voice broke through the night, to them. "I have seen how you two have grown so far."

The two teens looked behind them, to where Shizune and Tsunade were approaching them. "Master!" Sakura exclaimed.

Tsunade looked down at Kakashi, not only in sight, but in demeanor. "Kakashi, do yo uhave anything you'd like to say?"

Kakashi shrugged, and wrenched out, "Well, they did an excellent job of taking the bells from me."

Tsunade nodded, but Naruto and Sakura were perplexed. "Eh? What's going on? What are you guys talking about?"

The one to answer them was, surprisingly, Shizune. "About what we're going to do with the two of you." Naruto repeated the answer in a question, confused.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Tsunade called to him. Naruto was confused, and made sure of so. "Answer!" She exclaimed. Naruto got the message, and straightened his back, and broadened his shoulders. "Haruno Sakura!" Sakura answered back, in complete unison.

Tsunade looked down, complexing on her outmost decision. "The two of you and Hatake Kakashi… The three of you will form Team Kakashi from now on."

Sakura muttered that to herself, "Team Kakashi…?"

Naruto leaned forward, excited. "Hey, what does that mean?"

The one to answer this time was Kakashi, "The three of us will be teaming up on future missions." The teens turned to the sensei. "That's what it means." Kakashi continued, grinning. "Unlike before, we are no longer teacher and students. We'll work together equally as Konoha shinobi. Got it?"

Naruto and Sakura eagerly replied, happily.

--

In the trees, Jiraiya watched on a branch, grinning.

**-- Jutsu List --**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Literally, Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu. This jutsu is used to inherit chakra to your throat, and into your lungs, and blow out a large enferno ball that will incinerate most things in your path, usually stopped after about twenty-some meters. It is famous among Konoha Chunin, and (formerly) among the Uchiha clan.**

**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu: Literally, ****Double Suicide Decapitation Technique ****is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will travel through the ground to appear below their target. They will then surprise their target by then pulling them into the ground. Once in the ground their target is thus immobilized.**

**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu: ****Water Dragon Projectile Technique ****is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals, which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strikes their target.**

**Authors Comments:**

**Wow, finally done! Anyways, sorry for the long wait. I've been working hard at school, and I've gotten some time to scrap this together. It helps fuel my artistic mind, as you can see. I hope you're enjoying so far, and I hope you aren't bored with the re-cap on what the episode was like, but only modifying it. Trust me, this is where the real sht kicks off. Keep in there, and wait as I continue to beat my own ass to write new chapters!  
**

**  
Reviews for this fanfiction will be put forward to buy a self-ass-kicking boot to help quicken hiatus between chapters!**


End file.
